Around 1980, I left the field of Law Enforcement which I dearly loved and was good at, and entered the world of the United States Firearms Industry. From my start in the industry, to the day I determined I could no longer travel in 2006, it was my distinct pleasure to be a part of this great industry where I worked closely with, met, and grew to know, a great number of fantastic gun people.

For however many years my firearms industry career comprised, I traveled the western United States where I met and was able to work with the finest law enforcement firearms trainers from Anchorage to El Paso and from Denver to San Diego. During my employment with Smith & Wesson I was blessed with the ability to work with and learn from great firearms trainers like Tom Campbell (former Captain of the USA IPSC Pistol Team) and Paul Liebenberg a dominant force in IPSC competition in the late 70's and early 80's who went on to become one of the greatest custom gun builders of our time.

Having moved on to Glock U.S.A., I had the opportunity to work with noted firearms trainers such as Frank DiNuzzo (formerly of the New York State Police), Chuck Miller (former U. S. Navy Senior Master Chief of Seal Teams - West Coast ), Mike Blount (former chief firearms instructor for the Detroit Police Department), and Mark Doneburg (former pilot, firearms instructor, and competitor for the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office located in Syracuse, NY).

Traveling in these circles for a great many years I had the additional opportunity to meet and get to know a number of highly reputable and professional marketing people within the industry. These individuals worked for my competitors as well as the manufacturers of associated products within the Firearms Industry.  My list could be very extensive but I would like to point out just a few very special people like Mike Hall, Lane Pearce, Fred Pickler, Rocky Green, Ron Macy, Brad Bradanini, Steve Barlow, Jeff Orr, and Hans Vang. I have found these individuals extremely knowledgeable about firearms, firearms training, and firearms products. More importantly, if it come’s from their mouth; you might not like their answer; however, you can put what they have to say in the bank. These people have a proven track record of reliability and will never lead you astray.

All of these people, from the talented law enforcement firearms trainers, to the professional firearms instructors, to the talented marketing professionals; have taught me a great deal about firearms and formed my philosophies about this market and its products. These philosophies start of course with the basic rules of firearms safety which must be learned and practiced as if a religion by persons handling firearms:

• Handle all firearms as if they were loaded.

• Always keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction. Never point a firearm at something that you can destroy and NOT live with.

• Keep you finger out of the firearm’s trigger guard and off the trigger until you have aligned the weapon’s sights on a safe target and you have made the decision to fire.

• Always be certain that your target and the surrounding area are safe before firing.

• Whenever you handle a firearm, the first thing you should do, while keeping the weapon pointed in a safe direction with your finger out of the trigger guard, is to check the weapon to insure that it is NOT loaded.

• Before firing your weapon, you should insure that the weapon is in good working order, that it has been properly maintained, and that the barrel is clear of obstructions.

• Never use ammunition that is not specifically recommended by the weapon’s manufacture and that the ammunition you are using matches the caliber of the weapon you are loading it into.

• Never fire, or observe the firing of, a weapon without using quality and proper eye and ear protection.

• NEVER use firearms while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

• ALWAYS store firearms unloaded and secured in a safe place that is not accessible to children and/or untrained adults.

The many individuals I have mentioned taught me over the years these words of wisdom that I would like to pass onto you, my valued customer:

• A firearm is a machine conceived of Man, manufactured by a machine, and is therefore doomed to failure from its original conception. The machine will fail at the most opportune moment, especially if Mr.Murphy is involved!

• When considering the purchase of a firearm, a very important consideration of purchase should be; what is going to happen when the firearm breaks? How will I get it fixed? What is the manufacture’s history of customer service, repair performance, the availability of repair/replacement parts, and the cost of repairs? There are a great number of high quality firearms on the market; however, a few are almost impossible to get repaired in a timely manner.

• A proficient shooter MUST find the weapon, regardless of manufacture, cost, or other outside influence, that is most comfortable for the user. There are many, many fine quality firearms available on the market, but the user must find what “fits” him/her the best and the weapon they are most comfortable with and that feels good.

• The new owner of a firearm SHOULD:

• First learn and master the basics of shooting. Proper shooting techniques are BEST LEARNED from a reliable quality firearms instructor. Proficient shooting is a mind - muscle training process. You will shoot your weapon ALWAYS, EXACTLY as you have practiced shooting it. The continued practice of poor shooting technique will only raise ammunition expenses, create poor shooting scores and most frequently miss the intended target.

•  Second, the new owner of a firearm must master the use of their firearm in original factory manufactured condition. There is NO after market products that you can add to any firearm that will make you a more proficient shooter and help you master your newly acquired firearm.

• Third understand that a shooter will never “outshoot” the ability of the originally manufactured weapon. It is physically impossible for the shooter to ever shoot a weapon faster then the weapon is designed to fire.

• The greatest shooters in the world can shoot any factory stock weapon, with very little practice, almost as well as their competition weapons. This is possible because they have mastered the basics and practice them regardless of the weapon they are firing. Some of the greatest competitors in the world shoot factory stock weapons.

• There are many fine after market products that will produce positive results when added to your weapon. These products will enhance the performance of your weapon in certain conditions or situations. These products will NOT enhance your shooting performance if you have not mastered the basic techniques of shooting.

• Shot placement on a target is only as good as the shooter’s aim.

• Well placed shots with smaller calibers have stopped a larger number of assailants then a large number of big caliber shots fired at assailants that missed.

• Law enforcement officers should always check with their firearms training personnel to verify their department policy relative to altering a department owned weapon PRIOR to making any alterations to their issued weapon.

• Almost anything short of a 300 Win-Mag will not instantly take an assailant off his/her feet. Until you get to this level of caliber, there truly is no such thing as “knock down power”. ONLY accurately placed shots to certain body parts will “rapidly” stop an assailant from continuing his/her actions.

OK. Now you have an idea of my background, training, experience, and philosophical stance on the subject. I learned very quickly after my retirement that I REALLY miss my former customers and all the fine people I have come to know over the years.

Upon review of my knowledge of the positives and negatives of the industry I decided to see if I could find a way to help with the negatives. The most glaring problem I found was the availability of manufacture’s original repair/replacement parts in a timely manner for weapons popular in the shooting community. Secondarily, I found that there are a great number of after market products available to the shooting public, some good, some not so good.

I then reviewed all the above with “the boss” and our goal became a project to develop an internet business where the customer’s needs are the priority. Starting with a meager budget, this will take some time to fine tune the inventory and there may be times I will need to refer you to a business I know and trust as I do not have what you are looking for. It is not my desire to flood my business with after market products that may make your weapon look good, or give you something to talk about with your shooting buddies. My plan is to have in inventory and available manufacturer’s parts that the customer need in a timely manner to get a malfunctioning weapon back in service and after market products that will enhance customers shooting and that are highly reliable. Further, I will originally have a good number of collector’s items available that I have acquired over the years for sale because “the boss” says get rid of this stuff.

Eventually, we hope to be able to provide to you our valuable customers through this website:

• Listings of high quality reliable firearms trainers whom I personally know or whom have been recommended to me by someone I know and trust.

• A forum with the latest news about firearms, trends, problems, and new training techniques.

• A calm voice at the other end to help you figure out your latest firearms crisis.

To the many, many people who it has been my pleasure to know and work with over the years I give my heartfelt thanks to all you for your friendship and for what you have taught me. To my old customers; I look forward to renewing our relationships and I promise to continue my reputation of honesty and reliability, and to my new customers; I may not have the answer to your question, but I will do my best to get an answer for you.

Please enjoy the website, it is going to be fun to build with your help, and you can contact me anytime at email: kip@gponv.com.

Kip Canfield, General Manager
Karla Canfield, Owner

Back To Top